Just as Marcus was envisioning the future, the thunderhawk's fuselage suddenly experienced a violent jolt.
The Tech Sergeant's voice came from inside the cockpit. "We've reached Demerium orbit and are under enemy anti-aircraft fire."
At this moment, on Demerium's surface, countless mortal rebels had already established an anti-aircraft network. Various types of anti-aircraft weapons were firing fiercely at the Imperial fleet in orbit. Not only that, but various flying demons and daemon engines had also taken off from Demerium's surface, engaging the Imperial aircraft.
Countless Tzeentch screamers hovered in Demerium's low orbit, ready to tear apart any small Imperial aircraft. Larger Hell Drakes charged towards Imperial vessels, burning them with Warp flames.
Empowered by Warp energy, these demons and daemon engines were exceptionally difficult to deal with. The Imperial Navy and the Ultramarines had deployed all their combat aircraft and begun aerial combat. However, troop transports and drop pods were still being continuously destroyed. In a true interstellar war, unless one's personal strength breaks through certain limits, otherwise, even Astartes, these superhuman soldiers, would still die from artillery fire from unknown sources.
"Put on your jump packs and grav-chutes, prepare for orbital insertion at any moment!" Titus immediately gave the order.
Marcus, sitting in the corner, looked grim and pulled out the Stormtrooper grav-chute he had 'borrowed' from Magos Galio.
"Sergeant, try to get as close to Demerium's surface as possible; at this altitude, the grav-chute's power supply might be insufficient."
After donning his jump pack, Titus spoke to the Tech Sergeant piloting the thunderhawk. Astartes jump packs include grav-chute components. Their power supply and the altitude from which they can deploy are far superior to the Stormtrooper grav-chute Marcus was currently using.
As time passed, the thunderhawk gunship, under the Tech Sergeant's masterful piloting, continuously dodged anti-aircraft fire and daemon engine attacks. The cumbersome thunderhawk gunship, under the Tech Sergeant's control, performed various incredible evasive maneuvers. The cost was that everyone in the cabin felt dizzy and nauseous.
"Now! Begin orbital insertion!"
Seeing that the thunderhawk gunship had reached its maximum altitude, the Tech Sergeant immediately opened the cabin door. Outside the cabin was the cold void. Everyone lined up and came to the cabin door, leaping out one by one. Marcus, the last one, activated his grav-chute and followed Titus and the other two, leaping out of the cabin.
A feeling of slight weightlessness immediately struck him. But then, under Demerium's gravity and the micro-thrusters on the grav-chute, Marcus began to hurtle rapidly towards the tomb world below. Even in his full carapaced armor, Marcus could still feel the coldness of the void.
Along the way, countless damaged Imperial warships and aircraft wreckage drifted in the void. Marcus and his group had to simultaneously dodge anti-aircraft fire from the ground and ship debris to perform the orbital insertion. The sheer number of these debris and artillery shells was so great that even a divining box could not scan and capture them all.
"We must navigate by sight."
As he spoke, a massive piece of warship wreckage swiftly flew past Marcus. In a vacuum, sound cannot travel, so Marcus had to rely solely on his eyes to catch all incoming debris within his field of vision.
Concentrating, Marcus closely followed Titus and the others while constantly dodging surrounding debris fragments. Although Marcus had anticipated this orbital insertion and prepared his grav-chute beforehand, now, as it was actually happening, even Marcus, who had experienced countless life-or-death battles, was still incredibly nervous. He wasn't like Titus and the others, who had plot armor protecting them; who knew if he would fail to dodge in the next second, crash into warship wreckage, and turn into a puddle of gore.
"Focus! We will succeed. Stay close to me; don't get separated." Titus's calm voice rang out in the comm channel.
No sooner had he spoken than a huge Imperial frigate exploded violently not far from them. It seemed to have been hit in its ammunition depot by ground-based anti-aircraft fire, triggering a massive sympathetic detonation. An incredibly huge fireball shot skyward. Even in a vacuum, relying on the air inside the warship, the fire could persist for a while.
Soon, the shockwave generated by the explosion spread to their vicinity. Marcus was shaken by the shockwave, almost losing his balance. Fortunately, he adjusted in time and managed to control his flight posture. Accompanying the shockwave were countless bodies of mortal servitors thrown by the explosion. Some of these people died directly in the explosion, with only their remains still drifting in the void. Others were thrown out of the ship while still alive, struggling and dying in immense agony in the void.
Everyone dodged these swarms of bodies and continued forward.
After passing through a dense field of warship wreckage, a massive, evil-glowing Warp Rift appeared before them.
"Warp Beacon!"
Veridian Squad immediately broke off from the group and flew towards the area where the Warp Beacon was located.
"The Emperor protects."
Next, Talasa Squad also broke off from the group and headed to Demerium, to the location of the crashed battle barge, the Sword of Atreus.
Soon, under high-speed flight, the four successfully exited the most dangerous combat zone. After adjusting their direction and posture, the four began to fly towards their predetermined target.
A colossal silver tower floated on Demerium's surface. Even from high altitude, the four could clearly see the Warp's evil glow flickering on the silver tower. The Tzeentch Silver Tower.
A gigantic daemon engine of the Thousand Sons. Inside the massive silver tower, with its complex carvings and constantly shifting grooves, dozens, even hundreds, of Tzeentch slave sorcerers were wielding powerful magical weapons, inflicting massive damage on Imperial forces around the battlefield. They also provided protection for Thousand Sons forces and Warp daemons. This evil structure was said to be a modified building from Prospero, the homeworld of the Thousand Sons Legion. A Tzeentch daemon was also imprisoned within it, used to control the entire silver tower. Even if troops were sent to board and kill all the slave sorcerers in the silver tower, the silver tower could still operate under the daemon's control. To stop the silver tower's operations, it could only be completely destroyed.
The four quickly flew towards the silver tower. Their first mission was to place navigation beacons around the silver tower to guide the Sword of Atreus to crash into it.